Drug court adds another graduate

Friday’s graduate was convicted of two first-degree driving while intoxicated charges. Under Minnesota sentencing guidelines the man could have been sentenced to seven years in jail at a cost of $90 a day.

By completing drug court, taxpayers saved the $304,000 it would have cost to keep him in prison for the term, said Santee.

“He’s got over two years sobriety,” said Santee. “He’s doing well, his family is doing well and he’s working.”

With more than 50 graduates, the program’s success has far reaching effects, she said.

“It’s not just the graduate that is deeply affected, you have a family, kids have their parents back again, the community has a productive member — how do you put a value on that?” she asked.

She noted that the cost of the program is much less than the cost of Friday’s graduate to the serve prison time of the standard sentence for his offenses.

Santee said the program includes intense supervision and connects participants with a variety of services intended to help them accomplish the goals of the program.

“Research and statistics show that (graduates of drug courts) are more successful, stay in treatment and suffer from less recidivism than those on regular probation,” said Santee.

Koochiching also includes a family dependency treatment court model for parents of children found in need of protective services.

Participants receive services of a recovery specialist, which Santee said is unique. While the specialist does a lot of testing participants for drugs, they also assist participants with education and employment goals and make the appropriate referrals to other services.

“Our court is stringent,” she said. “We look at the whole person, not just the substance abuse. We want clean and sober people, but also productive members of the community who are working and parenting well and giving back.”

Participation in the programs is voluntary and is for people who have a criminal component and have been found to be chemically dependent, she said.

“These are not first-time DWI offenders,” she said.

Some participants have asked for the drug court, she said.

“On occasion, when people realize they’ve gotten to the point that substance abuse is such a struggle and know they won’t make it on a traditional route and need more intensive supervision, they ask to get into drug court,” she said.

The court provides rewards when participants are doing well and consequences if they do not meet the goals. Jail and community service are among the consequences, she noted.

Without the court, Santee said already overloaded probation officers would have more people to handle.

“The number of people on a case load for a standard probation officer is unbelievable,” she said. “They are working hard and don’t have the time to devote to people like our program is designed for.”

Also on Friday, the first steering committee on the combined Lake of the Woods and Koochiching County courts met.

The committee, made up of representatives of government, business, mental health and other agencies, will provide oversight and input on how drug court should be operating, said Santee.

“We have a great knowledge base in the community and it makes sense to tap into that,” she said.

Santee said she’s pleased by the support of the public. The Koochiching County and Lake of the Woods County boards recently approved funding to allow the program to continue.

“The community reaps benefits, so it’s great to have community buy-in and support,” she said. “We want people in the community to know we exist, how we’re working, and to have input into how it’s working.”